Fear of civil war in Iraq
2006-02-22 18:47
Baghdad - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani
warned Iraqis on Wednesday not to allow an attack on a Shi'ite
Muslim shrine in the city of Samarra to drag the country into
civil war.
"This new ugly crime comes as a warning that there is a
conspiracy against the Iraqi people to spark a war among
brothers. God willing, we will not allow this," Talabani said in
a live address to the nation on state television.
"We face a great conspiracy against Iraq, against its
unity," added the president, himself an ethnic Kurd and secular
Sunni Muslim.
"We must co-operate and work together against this danger,
the danger of civil war. This is the fiercest danger because it
threatens our unity and our country with a devastating civil
war."
Talabani called on all communities in Iraq to condemn the
attack and said it would not thwart efforts to create a
government of national unity that includes all religious and
ethnic communities two months after elections.
"We were shocked by this crime as we try to form a national
unity government," he said.
"Many lists won in the elections, but thank God, no one list
won a majority. I say thank God because this result forces all
to agree and cooperate and create a national unity government."
Shi'ite Islamists came close in December's election to
retaining the slim majority they held in the interim parliament
but fell short as rebellious, minority Sunnis took part in the
voting in large numbers for the first time.
The United States has been pressing hard and publicly for
Shi'ite Islamist leaders to accept that others should have key
posts in the new government - a call that has angered leading
Shi'ite politicians.